The afternoon training session on July 9 started, as usual, with warm-up exercises by fitness coach Cedric Roger and his assistants. After the players were in good shape, everyone quickly got into the main training session by coach Mai Duc Chung. However, the afternoon training session on July 9 encountered difficulties when the weather in Napier poured heavy rain. To ensure the health of Huynh Nhu and her teammates before the friendly match with co-host of the 2023 World Cup New Zealand, coach Mai Duc Chung decided to speed up the exercise volume and end the training session early.

The Vietnamese women's team is working hard to improve their physical strength and meet the technical and tactical requirements of the coaching staff. Photo: VFF

Meanwhile, head of delegation Truong Hai Tung and other experts had a meeting with the friendly match organizers, representatives of the New Zealand women's team and referees to agree on related issues. It must be said that the other side prepared very carefully for the friendly match with the Vietnamese women's team. The New Zealand organizing committee wanted to use this friendly match to review the final preparations for the 2023 World Cup.

On the training ground, defender Tran Thi Hai Linh affirmed that she and the whole team are very excited and highly focused for the friendly match with host New Zealand. Assistant coach Doan Thi Kim Chi shared: “If it doesn’t rain, the weather will be less cold. The field here is beautiful, the living conditions are good. Before, when I was a player, I only occasionally played on a beautiful field like this when playing in the Asian tournament.”

The weather in Napier has been quite harsh these past few days. Fitness coach Cedric Roger said: “The weather here is very different from Hanoi, only around 10 degrees. There was heavy rain and strong winds at the weekend, making it feel colder. If the warm-up goes well and the players can warm up, I think there will be no problem with their current fitness.”

This morning (July 10), Coach Mai Duc Chung and his players will have a tactical meeting before entering the friendly match with the New Zealand women's team at 12:30 (Vietnam time) at McLean Park.

Preparing for the 2023 World Cup, the New Zealand women's team has had a poor run of form, with only 1 win, 2 draws and 8 losses in the last 11 matches. Therefore, the friendly match with the Vietnamese women's team is considered a good opportunity for coach Jitka Klimkova's team to win, creating momentum for the 2023 World Cup.

This is also the last friendly match of the New Zealand women's team before entering the 2023 World Cup, so it is likely that McLean Park, with a capacity of 20,000 spectators, will be full. Vietnamese fans can watch this friendly match live on On Sports New, the YouTube channel of the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF Channel) at 12:30 on July 10.

NGUYEN CONG